An Innovation at the COE

Barbara LaBeau, COE assistant professor, and Russ Barneveld, affiliate professor, launched podcasting in April 2007 at the annual GVSU Technology Fair. “Podcasting,” says LaBeau “is nothing more than an online audio program very much like a radio program.”

At first they produced a series of bimonthly, 20-30 minute podcasts. Now they’re doing one a month during the academic year. “We were aghast when we started,” says Barneveld. “We had 500 listeners, located all over the world, access our first podcast."

They went on to create the WIT Podcast Series, We Integrate Technology, a public domain Web broadcast. Then they began to search for teachers willing to share exceptional technology uses in their classrooms. “One contact led to another, and then another and then another,” says LaBeau, “and it became serendipitous to run into one topic after another that could benefit teachers.”

“New technology was moving into the K-12 environment and we wanted to help teachers use it in a positive way,” says LaBeau. “We wanted to find and record exceptional uses of technology that facilitate inquiry-based learning. That’s the key to tweaking the interest of K-12 teachers in the use of technology.”

Both LaBeau and Barneveld take their podcasts one step further. They use the online recordings in their college classes. “They become a listening assignment, not a reading assignment,” says Barneveld. “It is a perfect way for our teacher candidates to learn how teachers are using technology in the classroom.”

iTunesU is now available at GVSU where WIT podcasts can be accessed at http://itunes.gvsu.edu